Child Care Expenses Deduction for 2023 T778

This information sheet will help you fill out Form T778. The terms child care expenses, eligible child, net income, and earned income are defined on the next page.

Who can claim child care expenses?

If you are the only person supporting the eligible child, you can claim child care expenses you incurred while the eligible child was living with you. Fill out parts A and B, and, if it applies, Part D.

There may have been another person who lived with you at any time in 2023 and at any time during the first 60 days of 2024 who was one of the following:
  • the eligible child's parent
  • your spouse or common-law partner, if you are the father or the mother of the eligible child
  • an individual claiming an amount for the eligible child on line 30400, 30425, 30450, or 30500 of their return

In this situation, the person with the lower net income (including zero income) must fill out parts A and B and claim the child care expenses unless one of the situations in Part C or in Part D applies.

If any of the situations in Part C or in Part D apply, the child care expenses can be claimed by the person with the higher net income, or in part by both the person with the higher net income and the person with the lower net income. In this situation, the person with the higher net income must calculate the claim first. However, you must each fill out a separate Form T778, and fill out parts A and B, and, if it applies, parts C and D.

If both of you have equal net incomes, you have to agree on which one of you will claim the child care expenses.

If you got married or became a common-law partner in 2023, you and your spouse or common-law partner have to consider your net incomes for the whole year. Include child care expenses you both paid for the whole year.

What payments can you claim?

You can claim child care expenses that were incurred for services provided in 2023. These include payments made to any of the following:
  • caregivers providing child care services
  • day nursery schools and daycare centres
  • educational institutions, for the part of the fees that relate to child care services
  • day camps and day sports schools where the primary goal of the camp is to care for children (an institution offering a sports study program is not a sports school)
  • boarding schools, overnight sports schools, or camps where lodging is involved (read the note in Part A of Form T778)

If you were a resident of Quebec, you can also claim the basic contribution you paid directly to the subsidized childcare service provider.

The above is not an exhaustive list of deductible child care expenses. For more information, see Income Tax Folio S1-F3-C1, Child Care Expense Deduction.

 
When the child care services are provided by an individual, the individual cannot be any of the following:
  • the eligible child's parent
  • your spouse or common-law partner, if you are the father or the mother of the eligible child
  • a person for whom you or another person claimed an amount on line 30400, 30425, 30450, or 30500 on your return or their return.
  • a person under 18 years of age who is related to you

A person is related to you if they are connected to you by a blood relationship, marriage or common-law partnership, or adoption. For example, your brother, sister, brother-in-law, sister-in-law, and your or your spouse's or common-law partner's child are related to you. However, your niece, nephew, aunt, and uncle are not.

Supporting documents
The individual or organization who received the payments must give you a receipt showing information about the services provided. When the child care services are provided by an individual, you will need the social insurance number of the individual. If you are filing online, keep all your documents in case we ask to see them at a later date. If you are filing a paper return, attach your completed Form T778, but do not send your other documents. Keep all your documents in case we ask to see them at a later date.

Notes
If you paid an individual to provide child care in your home, you may have some responsibilities as an employer. If you are not sure of your situation, contact us.

If Canada pension plan contributions and employment insurance premiums have been paid for an individual to provide child care in your home, the share that you have paid would also be considered to be child care expenses.

What payments you cannot claim?

You cannot claim payments for any of the following:
  • medical or hospital care, clothing, or transportation costs
  • fees that relate to education costs at an educational institution, such as tuition fees of a regular program or a sports study program
  • fees for leisure or recreational activities, such as tennis lessons or the annual registration for Scouts

You cannot claim expenses for which you or another person (as described under "Who can claim child care expenses?") received, or is entitled to receive, a reimbursement of the child care expenses or any other form of assistance not included in the income.

For example, this includes the hiring credit for small business and small business job credit received under the Employment Insurance Act. If your employer paid the child care expenses on your behalf, you can claim the part of the expenses included in your income for the year.

 
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Other situations

When completing the return of a person who died in 2023, claim eligible child care expenses that were paid while that person was living with the eligible child as if they were the only person supporting the child. However, if there was another person (as described under "Who can claim child care expenses?"), that person is also considered the only person supporting the child and can claim eligible child care expenses paid while living with the child, as long as the expenses were not claimed on the return of another person.

If you lived outside Canada for part or all of 2023, and we consider you to be a factual or deemed resident of Canada, you can claim child care expenses that you paid to a non-resident person for services provided outside Canada. For more information on these residency status, go to canada.ca/cra-determining-residency-status. For information on other situations in which you can claim child care expenses paid for services provided outside Canada (for example, commuters to the United States), please contact us.

If you immigrated to or emigrated from Canada in 2023, you can claim child care expenses for the period you were in Canada, as long as you otherwise qualify.

Definitions

The terms child care expenses, eligible child, net income, earned income, and educational program, used on Form T778, Child Care Expenses Deduction for 2023, are defined here.

Child care expenses

Child care expenses are amounts you or another person (as described under "Who can claim child care expenses?") paid to have someone look after an eligible child so that you or the other person could do one of the following:
  • earn income from employment
  • carry on a business either alone or as an active partner
  • attend school under the conditions identified under "Educational program"
  • carry on research or similar work, for which you or the other person received a grant

The child must have lived with you or the other person when the expense was incurred for the expense to qualify. Usually, you can only deduct payments for services provided in Canada by a Canadian resident. Read "Other situations" above for exceptions.

Eligible child

Child care expenses can only be claimed for an eligible child. An eligible child is one of the following:
  • your or your spouse's or common-law partner's child
  • a child who was dependent on you or your spouse or common-law partner, and whose net income in 2023 was $15,000 or less.

The child must have been under 16 years of age at some time in the year. However, the age limit does not apply if the child had an impairment in physical or mental function and was dependent on you or your spouse or common-law partner.

 

Net income

Your net income, and that of the other person, is used to determine which person can claim child care expenses. This is the amount from line 23600 of your returns. However, do not include amounts for child care expenses (line 21400) and social benefits repayment (line 23500).

Earned income

Your earned income for line 6 in Part B of Form T778 is the total of all of the following:
  • employment income (including tips and gratuities, and the non-taxable part of an allowance received as an emergency volunteer)
  • net self-employment income, either alone or as an active partner (excluding losses)
  • the taxable portion of scholarships, bursaries, fellowships and similar awards, and net research grants
  • any earnings supplement received under a project sponsored by the Government of Canada to encourage employment or sponsored under Part II of the Employment Insurance Act or any similar program
  • disability benefits received from the Canada Pension Plan or the Quebec Pension Plan
  • amounts received under the Apprenticeship Incentive Grant program and the Apprenticeship Completion Grant program, administered by Employment and Social Development Canada
  • any federal, provincial, or territorial government COVID-19 payments received in the year for which you have received a T4A or T4E

Educational program

An educational program has to be offered by a secondary school, college, university, or other designated educational institution.

This includes any institution certified by the Minister of Employment and Social Development Canada for courses that develop or improve occupational skills. An eligible program has to last at least three consecutive weeks.

Full-time educational program requires students to spend at least 10 hours a week on courses or work in the program.

Part-time educational program requires students to spend at least 12 hours in a calendar month on courses in the program.

For more information

What if you need help?
If you need more information after reading this form, visit canada.ca/taxes or call 1-800-959-8281.

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If you have a hearing or speech impairment and use a TTY, call 1-800-665-0354.

If you use an operator-assisted relay service, call our regular telephone numbers instead of the TTY number.


 
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Child Care Expenses Deduction for 2023 T778

Before you fill out this form, read the attached information sheet.

Software Note
To claim Child care expenses, please fill out below:
  • DEPENDANTS worksheet
  • RECEIPT_CHILDCARE
  • Applicable section on T778
  • Net icome and applicable income breakdowns of your spouse or common-law partner (if applicable) on page 1 of your T1 and on WS_OTHERS

If you are married or living common-law,

  • Usually only the spouse or common-law partner with the lower net income (even if it is zero) can claim child care expenses. Please fill in the child care receipts on the tax return that has lower net income to claim these expenses.
  • However, there are some cases that the spouse or common-law partner with the higher net income is allowed to claim child care expenses, e.g., the spouse or common-law partner with the lower net income was enrolled in a part-time/full-time educational program. In that case, you may choose to fill in the child care receipts on the tax return that has higher net income and also fill in applicable information on form T778 to claim these expenses.

For more information, please see line 21400 in the Tax Guide.


Part A - Total child care expenses
 
List the first and last names and the date of birth of all your eligible children, even if you did not pay child care expenses for all of them.
 
First name Last name Date of birth (mm/dd/yyyy)
 
First name of each eligible child for whom payments were made Child care expenses paid (read note below) Name of the child care organization or name and social insurance number of the individual who received the payments Number of weeks for boarding schools or overnight camps
+
Total 67950 =
Note
The maximum you can claim for expenses that relate to a stay in a boarding school (other than education costs) or an overnight camp (including an overnight sports school) is any of the following amounts:
  • $200 per week for a child included on line 1 in Part B
  • $275 per week for a child included on line 2
  • $125 per week for a child included on line 3
 
Enter the amount of expenses included above that were incurred in 2023 for a child who was 6 or younger at the end of the year. 67954  
             

Part B - Basic limit for child care expenses
                     
Number of eligible children born in 2017 or later for whom the disability amount cannot be claimed    x $8,000 =  1 
Number of eligible children born in 2023 and earlier for whom the disability amount can be claimed *    x $11,000 = 67960 +  2 
Number of eligible children bornorn in 2007 to 2016 (or born in 2006 and earlier with a mental or physical infirmity for whom the disability amount cannot be claimed)    x $5,000 = +  3 
Add lines 1 to 3 =  4 
 
Enter your the amount from line 67950 in Part A  5 
 
Enter your earned income    x 2/3 =  6 
 
Enter the amount from line 4, 5, or 6, whichever is the least  7 
If you are the person with the higher net income, go to Part C. Leave lines 8 and 9 blank.
 
Enter the amount that the other person with the higher net income deducted on line 21400 of his or her 2023 return -  8 
Line 7 minus line 8.
If you attended school in 2023 and you are the only person making a claim, also go to Part D.
Otherwise, enter this amount on line 21400 of your return.		 Allowable deduction =  9 
 
* Attach Form T2201, Disability Tax Credit Certificate. If this form has already been filed for the child, attach a note to your return showing the name and social insurance number of the person who filed it and the tax year for which it was filed.
 
 
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Part C - Are you the person with the higher net income?
                     
Fill out this part and tick the boxes that apply if, in 2023, another person with lower net income was in a situation described below.
Name of person with the lower net income   Social insurance number   Net income
   
 
a) The other person attended school and was enrolled in a part-time educational program.
b) The other person attended school and was enrolled in a full-time educational program.
c) The other person was not capable of caring for children because of an impairment in physical or mental function. That person must have been confined for a period of at least two weeks to a bed or wheelchair, or as a patient in a hospital, or other similar institution. Attach a statement from the attending physician certifying this information.
d) The other person was not capable of caring for children because of an impairment in physical or mental function, and this situation is likely to continue for an indefinite period. Attach a statement from the attending physician certifying this information.
e) The other person was confined to a prison or similar institution for a period of at least two weeks.
f) You and your spouse or common-law partner were, due to a breakdown in your relationship, living separate and apart at the end of 2023 and for a period of at least 90 days beginning in 2023, but you reconciled before March 1, 2024.
 
Line 4 (in Part B)    x 2.5% =  10 
Multiply the amount on line 10 by the number of weeks in 2023
that any of the situations in b) to f) existed  11 
Multiply the amount on line 10 by the number of months in 2023 that the situation in a) existed
(other than a month that includes a week used to calculate the amount on line 11). +  12 
Add lines 11 and 12 67980 =  13 
Enter the amount from line 7 (in Part B) or line 13, whichever is less.
If you attended school in 2023, go to Part D.
Otherwise, enter this amount on line 21400 of your return.		 Allowable deduction  14 
 

Part D - Were you enrolled in an educational program in 2023?
                 
Fill out this part if, at a any time in 2023, either of the following situations applied to you:
• You were the only person supporting the child, line 7 equals line 6 in Part B, and you were enrolled in an educational program (read "Educational program" on the attached information sheet).
• You were the person with the higher net income, line 7 equals line 6 in Part B, and, at the same time in 2023, you and another person were enrolled in a program described in the same section. But first, fill out Part C.
 
Part D does not apply to the person with the lower net income since the other person will claim this part of the deduction for both of them.
Line 4 (in Part B)    x 2.5% =  15 
Multiply the amount on line 15 by the number of full weeks in 2023
during which you were enrolled in a full-time educational program. If there was another person, they must also have been enrolled in a full-time educational program during the same weeks.  16 
Multiply the amount on line 15 by the number of full months (other than any month that includes a week used to calculate the amount on line 16) in 2023 during which one of the following applies:
• there was no other person and you were enrolled in a part-time educational program
• you and the other person were enrolled in a full-time or part-time educational program during the same months. +  17 
Add lines 16 and 17 67990 =  18 
 
Line 4 (in Part B) minus line 9 (in Part B) or line 14 (in Part C), whichever applies to you  19 
Line 5 (in Part B) minus line 9 (in Part B) or line 14 (in Part C), whichever applies to you  20 
Enter your net income
(not including amounts on line 21400 or 23500)		    x 2/3 =  21 
If you completed Part C: Line 13 (in Part C) minus line 6 (in Part B)  22 
 
Enter the amount from line 18, 19, 20, 21, or (if it applies) 22, whichever is the least  23 
Enter the amount from line 9 (in Part B) or line 14 (in Part C), whichever applies to you +  24 
Add line 23 and line 24. Enter this amount on line 21400 of your return. Allowable deduction =  25